Pump not working

[Windy Bill]

I have an 8’ Aermotor mill connected to a 4’ well pipe. It is not an actual well, but circulates a water trough making it appear to be pumping from a real well. It has the brass cylinder and has worked great for almost a year. Now it has quit pumping in the last day or so. I decided to pull the cylinder and replace leathers. The replacement leathers I have are graphite coated leather and very hard and non pliable. I tried to flare them out but they are tough. Any suggestions as to what I should do?
The bottom check valve is good and has a black rubber washer that is fine. There are two leathers on the plunger valve. With the new leathers installed, the plunger is not a tight fit in cylinder. Could I have the wrong size cups or should I ditch the graphite ones and get plain leather?

[Ken O'Brock]

I would suggest putting the cylinder in bucket of water and pump it by hand to see if the problem is the cylinder or something else in the system.

[mtblah]

Bill , nice looking set up !

[mtblah]

Take a look at Lehman's Hardware in Kidron Ohio , they specialize in items for the Amish and lots of pump parts ,

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Nice setup i like the bullet holes

[windybob]

We've installed a few set-ups like that. Very appealing. Like Ken said, check it in a barrel of water. If it does not pump right, let it set overnight in the water, try next day. If it still does not work, toss them leathers out like I do.

[waterPumper]

Windy Bill, Beautiful property and set-up! I would like to build a similar recirculating fountain-type set up as you have. Will you please describe how it works? Maybe this needs a new thread since I do not want to hijack your thread. Thanks. John

[Kevin]

If it was working and then it suddenly stopped working, you might have something holding a check valve open.
Do you have a good pond filter on the inlet?
I would stick a garden hose in the discharge pipe and see if you can back flush the line. The two check valves should prevent water from going through the pump.
Then do the same thing on the inlet inside the tank. The hose should push both check valves open and flush the line.

[Mike]

I have a similar problem with a new well cylinder from Midland that is not pumping right - I think???? I'm new at this. Checking it in a bucket of water, the lower check valve seems to be holding water just fine but when I pull up on the rod to pump, I have to pull rather quickly for it to draw water up and out the top. If I pull slowly, like the speed of a windmill in light wind, it will not draw water up. It's like there is a leak path, and I have to pull up rather quickly to overcome the leak. Does this sound normal?

[Windcatcher530 Dan]

Mike try leaving in the bucket of water for a while maybe the leather cups need to swell up more.